Chinatown (1974) came up in a recent conversation with a friend, and I realized I hadn’t seen it. After listening to my friend practically have a seizure over that fact, I decided to appease them and sit down and watch this cinematic tour de force. Alright, I’m laying it on a bit thick. While the film got hella accolades and has an incredible 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, AND the fact that it won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1974, I have to admit that I felt the film itself was rather meh. Oh yeah, it’s also directed by Roman Polanski. Fuck that guy.
So, I do love me a good noir mystery, and this is entirely the premise of the film. But that’s not what’s interesting. What’s interesting is that the costumes are very good for the 1930s. The costumes were designed by Anthea Sylbert, who also designed for Polanski on Rosemary’s Baby (1968). At the risk of going overboard in lavishing praise on Faye Dunaway, she’s fucking gorgeous in this film. There’s other people, including Jack Nicholson, sharing screentime with her, but nothing matters when you see Dunaway, in her prime, just inhaling scenery and looking like a goddamned goddess.
If you have any salient thoughts about Chinatown (1974) beyond the fact that Faye Dunaway is literally perfect, please share them in the comments!
Find this frock flick at:
I tried watching this a few years ago on TCM, but I just couldn’t get into it. And she should be called Faye STUNAWAY. :)
There’s a certain perversity to Joan Crawford bestowing such a compliment on the actress who played her in MOMMY DEAREST – I wonder if this remark was made before or after that film was released?
Also, in RUSH HOUR III had nothing else to recommend it, it does have Roman Polanski being depicted as the WORST.
There’s something Garboesque about Dunaway in that era. As for the jhodpurs, every season I find myself asking WHY Giorgio Armani has to include them in his RTW collections. Nobody looks good in jhodpurs.